Addressing the Curation Crisis

Historic England has estimated that UK museums will run out of archaeological storage space by 2027/8, to the detriment of heritage-based exploration. Other archives and collections are equally at risk, and it is hoped that UKRI’s RICHeS programme (Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science) will help to address this. However, the Government’s commitment to solve the Curation Crisis is restricted by a lack of a research agenda that clearly articulates the value of archives. Our research provides this evidence. We demonstrate how biocultural heritage can contextualise and mitigate modern global challenges, including nature renewal, food security and planetary health. This event will bring together our network and selected external partners to explore how we can address the Curation Crisis, intellectually, financially, physically and digitally.

10am: Coffee and networking

10.30: Let’s win people some funding!

We will begin with some pitches from people/groups who have ideas for archive-based projects. These could be individual research projects or ideas for collaborative research for which you’d like input from different disciplines (or maybe you are looking for ECRs to help you with grant development in return for being written in as a post-doc). We anticipate pitches from the list below but please get in touch if you would like to be added:

• Exeter Cathedral
• Fishbourne Roman Palace
• Exeter Special Collections

11.30: Bid brainstorming/writing

We have applied for an additional £6k of internal seed funding to support projects developed out of this event. We will know the outcome of our bid by 19th May and, if successful, we will require Heritage@Exeter proposals by the 23rd May (outcomes announced on 26th May). Funds must be spent by 31st July 2025.

Other funding opportunities include:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/grants-and-investments/rfp-enduring-impacts-archaeology-of-sustainability/

13.00: Lunch and ‘Hand that Feeds’ book launch. Opportunity to visit our digital heritage infrastructure (SHArD 3D Lab)

14.00: Addressing the Curation Crisis. Barney Sloane

14.30: Research showcase a series of 5 slide, 5-minute talks that demonstrate the value of archives and collections. If you’d like to present you can add your talk here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1o2nFP2KsJin9TGCDPu4qDLXNqGkk2zGnsUBU8rmzAns/edit?usp=sharing

15.30: Tea

15.45: Panel Discussion: The Curation Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities (Barney Sloane, Tom Cadbury, Robert Symmons, Caroline Walter)

16.45: Reception